Eden Dog Sledding and Dogsledding-On-Wheels, Come Mush and Learn With Us Year Round!

The Staff at Eden Mountain... meet some of the humans that team with our fun loving, huggable, joyful Alaskan Huskies:

 Jim Blair is the owner and visionary of Eden Dog Sledding and Dogsledding-On-Wheels.  A life-long love of sports and being raised with loving dogs from birth on - he finally combined both interests in Skijoring and racing sprint dog teams.  Semi-retired, he has won numerous regional and national titles including the International Six Sled Dog Sprint title and U.S. National Skijoor champion - where the cross-country skier is pulled by dogs.  Loving dogs and believing that our wonderful companions deserve quality of life from conception through retirement, he founded Eden Dog Sledding as one of North America's only free-range kennels where dogs are not chained.  The specially engineered trail system allows him to share the love of the sport with guests in a Discovery Channel type tour where they get hands on experience and a wonderful, thrilling ride that is safe both for the guests and the dogs.  His hope is that by sharing his kennel of loving, fun, huggable Alaskan huskies with guests and the wonders of Eden Dog Sleddings remote location that they will go home with great memories and thinking about the fun they can have with their own dogs - from Poodle to Irish wolfhound and all in between - as well as a healthy concern for our planet and how we can preserve the environment.  

 Tammy - Often when you call here to inquire about the tours you will get Tammy on the phone helping you!  Many days you will find her meeting and greeting our guests and helping them to get comfortable by the woodstove with a hot chocolate as she answers pre-tour adventure questions.  Tammy is our office manager and head dog spoiler!  She does everything from paying the bills, making webpage changes, answering the phone to harnessing and hitching!   In her home life away from Eden Dog Sledding she has a her own crew of dogs, horses and cats!  Tammy has recently adopted Rainbow, one of our long-time sled dogs who is now semi-retired!  She and her husband Rich live in Eden and enjoy hiking, watching cars race, concerts, reading and travel!

 Ulli - One of our mushers hails from Germany; having a degree in Mechanical Engineering he worked hard in the industry before hearing the Call of The Wild here at Eden Dog Sledding. Before learning Dog Sledding he raced motocross, so he brings a fine sense of agility and timing to dog sledding.  He loves the dogs and loves to share his knowledge with children and adults.  Ulli also leads our adventure snowmobile tours into the three thousand acres of protected wilderness that surrounds our haven.  At home he shares his life with two pet dogs, wonderful wife, April and their son, Harley and infant daughter, Rachel.  When he is not helping us with the dog centered adventures, he is a master with the heavy equipment needed to clear and make trails and to keep them groomed.

 Justin - Is a wonderful new member of our staff.  When he is not taking guests out for dogsled tours he helps to water, feed, groom, train and care for our twenty-eight, loving, free-range doggies. After a hiatus from school he is now pursing an education in business and environmental education at Sterling College with future plans of working in the non-profit and educational sectors. Justin is concerned with making Sustainability a reality, and not just a buzzword.  We love the stories and care that he brings to our dogs and to the guests he gives tours to.  We know that if you ride with Justin that you will both have fun and learn a great deal!

 Nate - is one of our mushers and dog handlers.  He just loves dog sledding and splits his time between Eden Dog Sledding and summer adventures giving sled tours on the glaciers of Alaska as well as dog handling for well known racers.  He started volunteering with us at the age of sixteen and worked his way into dog handling, kennel management and mushing, training with owner Jim Blair.  He has a degree in both Business and Accounting from Norwich University, in case he decides to give up the good life with dogs in the snow! Now our guests love to learn from him and take tours.  His quiet way, great smile and obvious love of the dogs and the sport which he shares always have guests smiling!  He currently has one sled dog, Gannon, that he acquired in Alaska and hopes for his own race kennel.  

 Fran Plaistead - A race musher that hails from New Hampshire, Fran is one of our independent Kennel owner friends who graciously transports her dogs to Eden Dog Sledding to give tours.  A seasoned musher with many years in racing, kennel management and breeding she brings a wealth of knowledge that she shares with many mushers in the sport.  We all look up to Fran and Eden Dog Sledding and Jim Blair have benifitted for years from her kind support.  We are happy when she comes to share her wonderful dogs and her love of the sport with our guests.  If you are fortunate enough to be here when Fran is you will love having taking a tour with her! 

 Ingrid Bower - Is a wealth of knowledge about dogs and the sport.  When she is not racing she has been sharing her knowledge with our guests, taking them on tours with her wondeful teams of Siberian Huskies that she transports from her home kennel.  Her kennel usually stands at about twenty adults and a number of puppies that she carefully breeds.  Ingrid loves to teach about kennel management and team training and hosts an intern program at her kennel.  She has been the long term organizer, manager and promoter behind the skijoor and sleddog races held each year in Craftbury, Vermont.  When the dog chores are not calling her she is a librarian for the University of Vermont.  Our guests love taking tours with her! 

 A special thanks goes to Lo Thamm at North 100 Studios who has spent hours designing this site and putting up with making a bazillion changes.  She is a brilliant graphics designer and web designer for many authors and artists, as well as creative businesses nationwide. She teaches for Adobe and offers courses at the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe. We cannot say enough about her easy going nature, professionalism and thank her for all of the extra hours that she has donated to bring our vision of a free-range kennel and dog center to the World Wide Web with CMS - content management systems using JOOMLA.  Please contact her if you have any graphics, web design or publishing needs.